Gratitude
by I.Must.Break.You
Summary: The Winter War is over, Aizen is dead, and Ichigo gets to keep his powers. On a casual walk through the remains of Fake Karakura Town, he stumbles onto a fallen Arrancar girl, and safely gets her back into Hueco Mundo, thus saving her from certain death/experimentation. What happens when said girl is conflicted by confusion and passion? Find out by reading! One-Shot, I think?


**So this is my first Bleach story. I happen to like most of the Espada, especially Starrk, Harribel and her three girls. But there aren't really a lot of stories involving those characters, so stories that pair them and Ichigo up are even scarcer.**

**I found two good stories which ship Ichigo and Arrancar together: 'Breaking Routine' by InhumanNexus, and 'A Hollowed Existence' by IchiFell. Definitely worth a read!**

**Anyway, I don't own anything regarding Bleach, or its characters. It is owned by Tite Kubo, This is solely fan-made.**

**Enjoy.**

**Gratitude: Chapter One:**

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"Ugh…"

Pain.

That was all she felt as she desperately tried to get back up onto her feet amongst the scattered debris that surrounded her from all sides.

"That damn Soul Reaper…" she cursed through gritted teeth, finally managing to stand up somewhat.

The 'damn Soul Reaper' she was referring to, was none other than Genryusai Yamamoto, the Head-Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads…and, more importantly, the enemy.

'_The fire of his Zanpakuto almost burned the flesh off my bones, even _while_ showing us mercy. I would not want to face an adversary such as him at full power.'_

An involuntary shiver ran down her spine at the thought of the seasoned Head-Captain at his maximum.

Taking in her immediate surroundings, all she saw was stacked up piles of rubble: The buildings that had surrounded her not too long ago, before she was taken down by Head-Captain Yamamoto, that is.

Looking over her right shoulder, she tried to get a broader view of their battleground, but suddenly realised that she was in a small crater, and could thus not see over the debris that surrounded her. _'I need to get out of here. I must go help my comrades.'_

And so started her tedious task of getting out of the crater, which she did half-crawling for most part. She underestimated the severity of her wounds, as her legs threatened to give away every-so-often, which proved troublesome during her climb as she would occasionally slip back down a couple of metres.

Finally managing to crawl out of the crater, she stood on two wobbly legs, taking in her surroundings once more. Her eyes quickly widened in shock though, as there was only rubble and debris as far as the eye could see, save for the occasional remaining bottom-half of a building.

'_What has happened here? Was I really unconscious for so long that I had missed the remainder of the battle? And more importantly, where is everyone?'_ A frown made its way onto her face. _'Mistress Harribel…'_ Panic started welling up inside of her as she thought about the safety of her Master. _'I must find her at once.'_ She closed her eyes, preparing to sense out her Master's Spiritual Pressure.

"Sung-Sun!"

'_That voice…'_ Sung-Sun hastily opened her eyes and snapped her head in the direction the voice came from. "Mila-Rose!"

A very Amazon-like looking woman (Now identified as Mila-Rose.) was limping towards Sung-Sun as fast as she could, her teeth gritted as she tried ignoring the pain that was searing through her body. "Are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"I will live…" was Sung-Sun's simple reply as she scanned over Mila-Rose for any injuries of her own.

She noted that Mila-Rose was no longer in her Resurrección form, the long lion mane with gold highlights no longer visible on her head being all that Sung-Sun needed to notice missing in order to deduce that fact. Mila-Rose's left arm was also reattached to her body, meaning that Ayon was no longer released. Other than that, the Amazon-like Arrancar had severe burn marks all over her exposed stomach and arms, while the white skirt with evenly-cut streaks she usually wore was missing most of its left side, revealing most of the equally-white pair of panties Mila-Rose wore underneath the skirt. The knee-length black boot with a white stripe vertically down the front was also missing from her left leg, leaving her only with the matching boot on her right leg.

Sung-Sun knew that she herself was in no better shape than Mila-Rose. She didn't even need to give herself an once-over to know that. Her anaconda-like tail had obviously been replaced by her legs again, while her left arm was also reattached to her body once more. The bottom half of her dress was burned away, leaving her standing in what now looked like a miniskirt that barely covered her modesty as it extended down just enough to touch her thighs, exposing her slender milky-white legs and the wounds on them. She was also standing barefoot, as her sandals were also burned away, along with her entire right sleeve.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Sung-Sun spoke up again.

"No, I haven't seen a single soul since I regained consciousness." Mila-Rose looked off to the side at the remains of the fake town. "I take it you didn't find anyone either."

"No, I haven't…" Sung-Sun brought her right arm up to her face to cover her mouth with her sleeve, a long-time habit of hers, to give the situation some thought, only to suddenly remember that she didn't _have_ a right sleeve anymore. Letting out an irritated huff, she dropped her arm back down to her side and turned her attention back to Mila-Rose. "We need to find Mistress Harribel and Apacci."

Mila-Rose looked off to the side, scanning the tarnished area around them, hoping to perhaps catch a glimpse of one, if not both, of their comrades. "Yes, you're right." She nodded, turning back to Sung-Sun.

"I suggest that we start looking for Mistress Harribel at once." Sung-Sun announced, earning a surprised look from Mila-Rose. Seeing that the Amazon-like Arrancar was about to protest, she cut her off before a word was spoken. "I realise that it sounds harsh, but Mistress Harribel comes before all else. We are her Fracciónes, and as such we must be at her side, ready to protect her if necessary at all times. After we have found her, we will start searching for Apacci as well."

Mila-Rose looked to be contemplating Sung-Sun's words, frowning at the ground in front of her. "We're not gonna leave her, right?" she looked back up at her fellow Fracción, concern clearly evident in her yellow-green eyes.

Sung-Sun stared back into Mila-Rose's eyes with her own lavender-pink ones for quite a few seconds. "Never…" it was no louder than a whisper, but that was all Mila-Rose needed to hear, as relief washed over her almost instantly, causing her stress-related stiff and rigid body to relax somewhat.

"Then let's go."

"Right." Sung-Sun nodded in agreement and turned to face the direction in which Mila-Rosa was previously looking in, her face hardened in focus. "The best way to find Mistress Harribel will be to sense out her Spiritual Pressure, which shouldn't be that much of a problem since she obviously possesses a considerable amount of it."

"I agree." Mila-Rose looked out over the destroyed town. "It should be relatively easy to find her." She started concentrating, focussing her energy on sensing her Master. But she suddenly snapped her head back towards Sung-Sun. "I don't sense her, Sung-Sun." Worry quickly made itself visible in her eyes, her breathing quickening ever so slightly.

"Let me try." She wouldn't admit it out loud to Mila-Rose (Well, she would, but not in a situation like this.), but she was much more adept at sensing individual Spiritual Pressure signatures than her and Apacci. She was the weakest of the three of them as she was the last one to be reborn into an Arrancar between the three of them, being Arrancar number 56, while Apacci and Mila-Rose were 54 and 55 respectively. But she could sense energy and other beings around her much more accurately, as she was calm and level-headed. Apacci was too rash and hot-headed, while Mila-Rose was too…primitive…in her eyes.

Bringing her attention back to the situation at hand, Sung-Sun closed her eyes and started searching for the Third Espada's Spiritual Pressure. After three minutes of sensing she had still not found her Mistress's signal.

"So?" Mila-Rose barked next to Sung-Sun. "Have you found her or not?"

"Be quiet." Sung-Sun furrowed her eyebrows in concentration as sweat started forming on her forehead. _'Why haven't I found her yet!?'_ she screamed in her mind. _'I am usually able to immediately locate Mistress Harribel. Why am I not sensing anything from her? She couldn't be…!'_

Mila-Rose was now beyond worried. Sung-Sun's breath had suddenly hitched, and now she was breathing heavily, her body trembling slightly. "Sung-Sun…?"

No answer.

"Sung-Sun?"

Again, no answer.

"SUNG-SUN!" this time Mila-Rose gave Sung-Sun a little push from the side as well. It seemed to work, as Sung-Sun's eyes opened up immediately, but there was distress clearly visible in them, while her breathing was still accelerated. "You need to calm down. You're too worked up to concentrate. You'll never find her like this. So, just take a deep breath, and try again."

Sung-Sun gratefully nodded at her fellow Fracción. She then proceeded to take in a large breath of air through her nostrils, and then slowly let it out, before closing her eyes again.

Spanning her senses out as far as possible, Sung-Sun started searching for her Master's Spiritual Pressure once more. _'Where are you, Mistress Harribel?'_

Still nothing.

Panic was starting to rise within her again, but Sung-Sun took another deep, comforting breath, before continuing. She was reaching the edge of her sensing range, when she suddenly locked onto a familiar signal. _'There!'_ It was faint, _very_ faint. But it was definitely Tier Harribel; Espada number Three's Spiritual Pressure. And it was fading, _fast_!

Sung-Sun's eyes suddenly snapped wide open. "I found her! We must hurry; her Life Force is fading rapidly!"

"Right. Lead the way!" Mila-Rose quickly replied.

Sung-Sun nodded in acknowledgement, before she suddenly disappeared, the static-like sound of Sonído trailing after her, which was quickly followed by another static-like sound as Mila-Rose immediately Sonído'd after her fellow Fracción.

It only took the two of them a couple of seconds to land in the area where Sung-Sun felt her Mistress's Spiritual Pressure, where the sight of their fallen Master lying on her stomach in a pool of her own blood, immediately greeted them.

"Mistress Harribel!" Mila-Rose and Sung-Sun both shouted simultaneously.

They practically leaped through the air towards their Master, both of them skidding to a halt on their knees to her left. Upon closer inspection, Mila-Rose and Sung-Sun noticed that she had dropped out of her Resurrección form, instead wearing her normal white hakama with a black sash tied around the waist. The jacket she normally wore along with her Zanpakuto's sheath was nowhere to be found, although her Zanpakuto lay on the ground to her right. What caught their attention though, was the large, profusely-bleeding vertical gash down the left side of Harribel's back, extending down from her left shoulder blade to her midsection.

"Ma'am!" Sung-Sun put her hands on her Master's shoulders and carefully turned her onto her back, only to gasp in shock at the condition the front of her body was in. The remnants of her hollow mask that covered her breasts and neck were still present, but the part that covered the lower half of her face was completely missing, revealing her blood-smeared tanned face in its entirety.

Sung-Sun and Mila-Rose's admiration of their Master's beauty was short-lived, as they quickly noticed the large horizontal gash over her upper abdomen, right below her breasts, and it was bleeding…a lot. So much, in fact, that her entire stomach and the top half of her hakama was literally _soaked_ in blood.

"Damn it!" Mila-Rose cursed out loud as she put her hands on her Master's shoulders. "Mistress Harribel wake up!" she started shaking the Third Espada by the shoulders in an attempt to help her regain consciousness.

"Mila-Rose, stop it." Sung-Sun calmly chastised. But Mila-Rose showed no response and kept on shaking her Master by the shoulders. "MILA-ROSE! STOP!"

Her outburst seemed to get through to Mila-Rose, as the taller Fracción stopped shaking their Master, and snapped her head up at Sung-Sun, confused as to why she was told to stop.

"You're making it worse!" Sung-Sun shouted, fixing a Mil-Rose with a furious glare.

Mila-Rose gave her an astonished look. "How is _waking_ Mistress Harribel up making it worse!? I'm just trying to help her!" she angrily barked back.

"The more you shake her, the more her wounds open up!" Sung-Sun yelled. "She'll bleed to death as it is already! And you shaking her around will only quicken the process!"

Mila-Rose's eyes grew wide. She quickly let go of her Master's shoulders and fell backwards, crawling a few feet away to avoid hurting the Third Espada even more, a look of shame on her face. "What do we do then?"

"I…don't know." Sung-Sun honestly admitted, earning her a loud 'WHAT!?' from Mila-Rose. "She's lost almost all of her blood, and from what I gather, there isn't enough Reishi in this area to kick-start Mistress Harribel's High-Speed Regeneration."

"We have to do something!" Mila-Rose's eyes were now starting to fill with tears. She deeply cared for their Master. Tier Harribel had saved her live and that of Apacci and Sung-Sun numerous times, and she'd be damned if she just let her die like that. "There has to be a way to save her, Sung-Sun! Please! You were always the smartest out of the three of us! Please, think of something. I beg you!"

Sung-Sun stared at Mila-Rose with her mouth agape in openly-displayed shock. _'Did Mila-Rose just admit that I am smarter than her…?'_ Quickly shaking any teasing remark out of her head, she turned her attention back to the situation at hand. _'Now is not the time for bickering.'_

"We need to give her High-Speed Regeneration a boost." Sung-Sun stated. "That's the only way to save her."

Mila-Rose nodded. "Yes, but _how_?"

Sung-Sun looked down, going through the possible solutions in her head. "We could transfer our own Spirit Energy to Mistress Harribel." Mila-Rose visibly brightened at that suggestion. She had absolutely no problem sacrificing her Spirit Energy for her Master.

"But," Sung-Sun quickly started again. "We barely have any Spirit Energy left ourselves, so I doubt that it would have the desired outcome." Mila-Rose's face immediately dropped again. "And besides, we need our Spirit Energy to protect Mistress Harribel, just in case a Soul Reaper finds us. If we give it to her, all of us would be done for if we happen to bump into one."

Mila-Rose nodded in understanding. What Sung-Sun said was very true. They needed all the power they could get as it is already. She seriously doubted if the two of them could even protect their Master at the moment, given their low energy reserves. "So, what can we do then?"

"I don't know…" Sung-Sun softly answered, running a hand over her face as she tried to think of something, _anything_. "The only thing I can think of is to get Mistress Harribel to an area that contains a large amount of Reishi, but I don't sense a place such as that anywhere nearby."

Mila-Rose growled in frustration. They weren't getting anywhere, and their Master was losing more and more blood by the second. "There must be enough Reishi somewhere…" she mumbled to herself, searching her mind for any other possible solutions. Then, it suddenly hit her.

"Hueco Mundo!"

"Hueco Mundo?" Sung-Sun echoed, frowning at her fellow Fracción.

"Yes, Hueco Mundo!" Mila-Rose repeated a lot more enthusiastically this time. Seeing Sung-Sun's confused look directed at her, she slapped her forehead with her palm. "Sung-Sun, think about it! What is over-abundantly present in Hueco Mundo?"

"Uh…Hollows?"

*WHACK!*

Another palm-to-face from Mila-Rose.

"Yes, that too." Mila-Rose mumbled. "But I'm talking about Reishi!" Sung-Sun visibly stiffened in realisation. "Hueco Mundo is filled with masses and masses of Reishi for Mistress Harribel to absorb!"

Sung-Sun's eyes widened as she dropped her head slightly, staring at the ground in front of her as it became clear in her head. How could she not have thought of that! Hueco Mundo was overflowing with Reishi! "Y-You're right…" she gasped out as she raised her head and stared at Mila-Rose.

Mila-Rose opened her mouth to speak, but quickly stopped as she turned to face Sung-Sun, their eyes now wide in fear. "D-Do you…Do you feel that?"

Sung-Sun nodded. "I do…"

She definitely felt it: A Soul Reaper. And he or she was coming straight towards them! She looked at Mila-Rose, who in turn looked back at her. Then she looked down at their Master, and her eyes suddenly grew wide. "Mila-Rose, we must get Mistress Harribel to Hueco Mundo _now_! Before that Soul Reaper finds us!"

Sung-Sun immediately tapped the air in front of them with her index finger. Right away, a black horizontal rip formed, and fully opened into a Garganta moments later. "Come, we must go now. You carry Mist-"

"Wait!" Mila-Rose interrupted. "What about Apacci!?" Sung-Sun's downcast eyes and the frown on her face said it all. "You can't possibly be considering leaving her behind!"

"We have no choice! Mistress Harribel's survival is our main concern at the moment!" Sung-Sun yelled back.

"They'll kill her!" Mila-Rose snapped, jumping up onto her feet in anger.

"They'll kill _us_ if we don't get out of here right now! That Soul Reaper is coming straight at us! We must protect Mistress Harribel!" Sung-Sun was breathing heavily now. She too was standing on her feet, staring Mila-Rose down.

Mila-Rose broke their stare-off, and suddenly cast her eyes down at the ground. "Y-You're right…" she mumbled out, her fists tightly clenched and shaking. "Mistress Harribel is our main priority."

Sung-Sun reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Once we get Mistress Harribel in Hueco Mundo and she has absorbed a sufficient amount of Reishi; one of us will come back and get Apacci, okay?" All she got in reply was a small nod. Turning towards their Master, she spoke up again. "We have to go now."

Mila-Rose also turned back towards the Third Espada and nodded. "Right."

Sung-Sun nodded back at Mila-Rose, before making her way towards the still-open Garganta. "You are going to carry Mistress Harribel through the Garganta, while I run in front and create and sustain a foothold path for the two of you."

"Sung-Sun…"

Sung-Sun turned around and faced Mila-Rose again, who was still standing in the same spot, fidgeting slightly with what was left of her skirt. "Hm?"

"Are you sure that Apacci will be alright…?" Her yellow-green eyes were filled with worry. Sure, she and Apacci constantly butted heads, and regularly made teasing remarks about each other's appearance, figure and competence. But she was still Apacci, a member of their little 'family' of four. They were like sisters, the three of them, while Mistress Harribel was their mother-like figure. And one thing was for certain; they all cared deeply for each other, all of them.

Sung-Sun contemplatingly stared at the ground. "To be honest, I don't think I can guarantee that she'll be safe." She admitted with her head bowed. "At the moment she's alive, but she can barely be sensed, and I doubt that the Soul Reapers will be sensing for us, since they think we're all dead. So all we can do is hope. Hope that she will stay unconscious until one of us comes back to get her. That way, she'll be mostly undetectable. If the Soul Reapers discover her, we must hope that they will show her mercy. That," she stopped and looked up into Mila-Rose's eyes. "Is all we can do."

Mila-Rose nodded as she stared back at Sung-Sun, feeling a little more reassured now.

"Come," Sung-Sun started as she turned around to face the Garganta. "We must go, _now_. The Soul Reaper is almost here."

And with that said, Sung-Sun walked into the Garganta, disappearing into the black void on the other side of the rip, most likely getting to work on the foothold path for Mila-Rose and Mistress Harribel.

Mila-Rose bent down next to her Master, before gently putting one arm under the Third Espada's legs and the other under her neck, making sure to hold Tiburon, Mistress Harribel's Zanpakuto, snugly under her right armpit. She then carefully straightened back up, carrying Mistress Harribel in a bridal-like fashion, and proceeded to hastily walk into the Garganta, also disappearing into the black rip.

The Garganta stayed open behind them for a few more seconds, before it abruptly closed and disappeared completely.

Just in time too, as a new presence, the Soul Reaper, suddenly dropped out of the sky, landing on the ground with a small thud.

"Hmmm…" he looked around, frowning as he laid eyes on the pool of blood a few feet in front of him. "This is so weird…I could have sworn I just felt a couple of Spiritual signatures…" he looked down at his feet. "Right here."

He did not have a clue as to who those two signatures belonged to, because…well, he was Ichigo Kurosaki, and sensing Spirit Energy wasn't really something he had mastered during his tenure as a Substitute Soul Reaper.

The war had ended. Sosuke Aizen was defeated, killed during their climatic battle in the wasteland outside Karakura Town. He had shown up on the battle field just as the traitorous Captain was about to permanently silence a severely distraught Rangiku, hovering over what appeared to be the _very_ near-death form of Gin Ichimaru.

With the three month Jinzen-induced training he unwillingly had to undertake in order to convince Zangetsu to teach him the Final Getsuga Tensho, Ichigo had little trouble in forcing Aizen away from his friends and Karakura Town. In fact, he had literally grabbed the traitor by the face and dragged him away, before slamming him into an isolated wasteland situated a couple hundred kilometres from Karakura, without any effort whatsoever.

It was there that the ultimate battle began. Aizen, under the impression that the Hogyoku had rendered him an invincible Hollow/Soul Reaper/god-thing, didn't even take the fight seriously, and gloated about his "transcendence of both Hollow and Soul Reaper" right from the word go, totally missing the obvious signs of Ichigo's power being far greater than his own.

It wasn't until Ichigo had caught Kyoka Suigetsu with his bare hand, destroyed a full incantation Kurohitsugi spell by "one who transcends both Hollow and Soul Reaper" with a simple wave of his hand, and delivered a devastating cut to his right shoulder, that Aizen lost his cool, triggering a rather bizarre transformation by the Hogyoku that entailed, among other things, splitting the skin of Aizen's face vertically in half.

Cockiness soon overtook Aizen again, as he bombarded Ichigo with an all-out Cero attack, before he triumphantly grabbed the orange-haired Soul Reaper by the throat while further gloating about his transcended state.

The gloating stopped again quickly thereafter though, as Ichigo swatted him away with a single swing of his Zanpakuto.

The gloves really came off after that, as Ichigo grew tired of this pointless battle, and activated his ace: The Final Getsuga Tensho.

It was only after the bluish-black Spiritual Pressure enveloping the orange-haired Soul Reaper had subsided, leaving a very different-looking Ichigo in its place, that Aizen realised why he couldn't feel anything whatsoever from the now-black-haired Soul Reaper: Ichigo was stronger than him.

Midway through Aizen's rant of denial, Ichigo silenced him yet again, the smoky black Spiritual Pressure emitting from his body encompassing his right arm as his entire right arm was enclosed in the smoky substance.

Mugetsu: The last thing Aizen heard before everything around him went black.

Then, there was complete silence, brought on by the sheer power behind the massive black wave of energy…until Aizen's death-curling scream pierced the silence from within the dark matter. The massive black veil of Spiritual Pressure started rising up from the ground, eventually evaporating in the sky above.

As the black energy subsided, Ichigo had noticed a small, sparkling object fell from the sky, into the waiting hands of Kisuke Urahara.

The Hogyoku: Safely in the hands of its creator once more. That was all that was left of Aizen though, as Ichigo, being the only remaining being able to sense the traitor's Spiritual Pressure, didn't feel it at all. He was dead, for real this time.

And that was when the now-again-orange-haired Soul Reaper started his involuntary descent downwards, crashing somewhat into the ground as a big cloud of dust settled around him. He had no more energy left, and, if what Tensa Zangetsu had said was true, his Spirit Energy was gone.

Kisuke had quickly made his way over to where Ichigo had been lying on his back, and the two of them silently revelled in the triumphant aftermath. The war was over. Sosuke Aizen was no more.

It was in this silence that Ichigo had suddenly bolted upright onto his feet, eyes wide as he stared at his hands.

**[FLASHBACK…]**

"Ichigo?" Kisuke hurriedly got up as well, staring at Ichigo with mild concern.

Ichigo snapped his head towards the scientist to his right, surprise plastered on his face.

"What's the matter? Ichigo, why are you looking at me like that?" Kisuke was now starting to feel a bit uneasy with the way the orange-haired Soul Reaper was staring at him.

"I can…I can sense you!" Ichigo suddenly exclaimed, frantically pointing at the shopkeeper.

Kisuke, for his part, looked lost. "Ichigo?" he carefully started, tilting his head to the side in clear confusion. "Are you uh, feeling okay?"

"Kisuke! I can _sense_ you!" Ichigo repeated, albeit with a lot more excitement in his voice this time around. "Do you know what this means!?" excited didn't begin to describe the orange-haired Soul Reaper's expression, as he seemingly ignored Kisuke scratching his head in even more confusion. "It means my Soul Reaper powers aren't gone!"

"Gone?" the shopkeeper vaguely repeated. Now, he had absolutely no idea what the teenager in front of him was talking about. Maybe he was dazed from a blow to his head? "Why would your Soul Reaper powers be gone?"

Ichigo's excitement momentarily gave way to confusion as well. What the hell was wrong with Hat-and-Clogs? "The Final Getsuga Tensho!" was his simple explanation.

Kisuke gave him a blank look, which said it all. "The Final Getsuga Tensho…?"

"Yes, the Final Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo repeated yet again, irritation clearly starting to take over. "Dad told you about it, didn't he?"

Kisuke shook his head negatively, a curious gleam now settling in his eyes.

Ichigo dragged a hand over his face. How typical of Isshin to not share important information such as this beforehand. Taking in a deep breath, he started his explanation. "Right, well, you see. It turned out Aizen did something to the Cleaner while he and Gin travelled through the Precipice World to the Soul Society, and my Dad figured that it was just the break we needed, because he knew of a way for me to learn this new technique…"

**[FIVE MINUTES LATER…]**

"…so after I used it on Aizen just now, I was supposed to lose my Spirit Energy and all the powers it gave me, including my Soul Reaper powers…" he finally finished retelling the events that had transpired. "At least, that's what Tensa Zangetsu said."

"Hmmm…" Kisuke, who had been silently listening up until now, hummed in contemplation while scratching the stubble on his chin. "Well, this is certainly interesting. And you clearly haven't lost your Spirit Energy yet, else you wouldn't even be able to see me right now."

"So, what does this mean, then?" Ichigo asked. Kisuke was the smartest person he knew, so if anyone could help him solve this issue or even get his powers back, it was this man in front of him.

Kisuke stayed quiet for a while, thinking the situation over in his head. "…well," he scratched the back of his head while trying to find the right words. "I've limited the fact that you still have your powers down to two possible reasons, for the time being, that is. Number one:" he held up a finger. "The fact that you still have your powers doesn't mean that it will remain with you. It might just be taking a little while for it to completely disappear…"

Ichigo's eyes, along with the hope and excitement that was building up inside of him, instantly dropped after hearing that. So he was losing his powers after all then…

"Whoa, calm down there, Ichigo." Kisuke, having seen Ichigo's hope just shatter, quickly spoke again, waving his hands in front of him in order to calm the orange-haired Soul Reaper down. "That is probably the worst thing that could happen. But the fact that you still have Spirit Energy could also lead me to believe that you haven't lost it at all. Maybe your body has somehow countered the effects of using the Final Getsuga Tensho, and thus stopped you losing your Spirit Energy instead, which I have labelled as number two."

Ichigo momentarily scowled at Kisuke and the two fingers that were now practically shoved into his face. But excitement at hearing the 'number two' part of the shopkeeper's explanation quickly filled his features with hope once more. "Do you really think so, Kisuke?" he asked with childish over-excitement. "Do you think I'll keep my powers?"

"Like I said, it's only a theory I have." Kisuke carefully said as to not give the orange-haired Soul Reaper any false hope. "I don't really have the research to back it up right now…buuuut we can head back to the shop so I can do some proper experiii-I mean tests?" he watched Ichigo scowl at the all-too-deliberate slip of the tongue, as he tried to at least brighten the atmosphere somewhat with a joke or two.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea…" Ichigo agreed, giving Kisuke a sceptical glance. He really didn't want to lose his Spirit Energy. But, although he knew the eccentric shopkeeper was only joking about it to try and calm him down (Which he was grateful for), he didn't want to get experimented on, not at all.

"Alrighty then!" Kisuke suddenly exclaimed a bit too enthusiastically for Ichigo's liking. "If you're all wrapped here…" he motioned around them towards the destroyed wasteland. "I'm sure Mayuri and Squad Twelve will be here shortly to conduct some experiments of their own, so they'll probably fix the place up afterwards."

Ichigo gave the final battleground one last look, before he turned his attention back to the shopkeeper. "Yeah, there's nothing left to do here…"

"Excellent!" was all Kisuke said while turning to face in the general direction of Karakura Town. He glanced at Ichigo one more time over his shoulder, before he suddenly disappeared with a swish of Flash Step.

Great…Kisuke was being his usual dopey self again. Ichigo let out an exasperated sigh before he took off after Kisuke with a Flash Step of his own.

But he didn't quite catch up to the shopkeeper though, as he suddenly dropped out of the Flash Step and just…fell, skidding over the desert ground below him before finally coming to a stop in a dusty heap.

"Ugh…" he groaned as he tried pushing himself up with his hands. "W-what the hell…" he barely managed to wheeze out. Why was he so out of breath, and why was his body screaming out in protest?

"Ichigo?" a voice above him called out.

Looking up, the orange-haired Soul Reaper laid eyes on Kisuke, who was looking down at him in obvious concern.

Ichigo warily got up onto one knee, breathing heavily as sweat dripped from his face.

"What's wrong?" Kisuke asked as he knelt down in front of the orange-haired Soul Reaper.

"I…I don't know…" he managed to wheeze out in between breaths. "I feel so worn out all o-of a sudden…"

"Hmm…" Kisuke hummed while rubbing his chin in thought. He then suddenly pressed on Ichigo's chest with his open palm.

Ichigo, not being able to resist Kisuke' actions at all due to his weakened body, merely frowned at the former Captain in front of him.

There was silence for a few moments, before Kisuke's eyes suddenly shot up and met Ichigo's. "You have no energy left…"

Ichigo's breath hitched as his eyes suddenly widened considerably. "So…so that means that I _am_ losing my powers…" his eyes dropped down to the ground, pain starting to settle on his features as his clenched fists started shaking.

"No, it's not that."

Ichigo's eyes quickly shot back up to Kisuke again, who was looking back at him, obviously deep in thought.

"You still have your Spirit Energy. But you have no more _energy_." Kisuke stated. "You've used up all your strength and stored-up power." The shopkeeper's eyes narrowed in contemplation. "Hmm, that would explain why you can hardly move, though. There is literally no more energy left in your body. You're completely drained of all your reserves."

The orange-haired Soul Reaper would've breathed a sigh of relief, but he was simply too worn out to even try.

"Well, come on." Kisuke exclaimed as he suddenly got up onto his feet. "Let's get you to the shop so we can assess the situation."

Ichigo didn't even bother protesting as the shopkeeper grabbed hold of the back of his shihakusho and suddenly used Flash Step. He settled for watching the landscape below them change as they raced towards the Urahara Shop, savouring the opportunity to let his body rest for a while…

After they arrived at Kisuke's shop, the pair was immediately greeted by Tessai, Jinta and Ururu, who had stayed put in the shop during the battle, just in case it was invaded if Aizen or his disciples managed to find it when they came to the Soul Society. Yoruichi was nowhere to be found, though. Her injuries were probably still being treated by Squad Four in the fake Karakura Town.

There wasn't chance for small-talk though, as Kisuke almost-immediately dragged the still-worn out Ichigo straight into his room and started running some tests, which basically meant that Kisuke poked on the orange-haired Soul Reaper's chest for a while, as the Chain Of Fate was located in that area.

This was followed by Ichigo being hooked up to some sort of weird machine by means of patches being stuck all over his upper body. The orange-haired Soul Reaper couldn't have been happier when Kisuke pulled all the wires and patches off of his body five minutes later. While he greatly appreciated Kisuke's help and expertise, he was not overly fond of being excessively touched, nor being hooked up to weird machines that make beeping noises.

A greatly suspenseful three minutes went by as Kisuke packed his various pieces of equipment away, before he abruptly turned to face the still-sitting Ichigo, ready to give him an update of his powers…

"You're not losing your powers, Ichigo."

It felt as if an entire mountain was lifted off of Ichigo's shoulders when he heard Kisuke say those words. The orange-haired Soul Reaper literally fell backwards onto Kisuke's bed out of sheer relief.

**[END FLASHBACK…]**

Ichigo smiled at the memory as he absent-mindedly looked out over wreckage sprawled out in front of him.

He wasn't losing his powers. He was going to stay a Soul Reaper.

Kisuke's explanation for this phenomenon was that Ichigo's body had been storing a small portion of his Spirit Energy away over the entire course of his Soul Reaper existence, just in case of a situation like the one that had transpired. Ichigo really did use up all of his Spirit Energy, all except for that tiny little amount that was stored away, that is.

And the reason he was feeling so weak was because he literally _exhausted_ his body and its pent-up energy reserves. To such an extent, in fact, that he was physically unable to move even a single muscle in his body.

The effects that the Precipice World had on his body were quite clearly still in effect, if his long, shaggy orange mop of hair was anything to go by. He had dropped out of his Bankai state quite a while ago, with Zangetsu once again becoming more cleaver-like in appearance. His shihakusho also appeared normal again, save for the fact that both his sleeves were ripped off, his entire right sleeve because of his Precipice World training, and the left sleeve to even out his appearance. It seemed kind of pointless to him to only have one sleeve.

So, here he was, a couple inches taller with longer hair, standing in the midst of the wreckage that was Kisuke's replica of Karakura Town.

The only reason he was even standing was, once again, because of Kisuke Urahara. His Spirit Energy was still almost completely used up, so the genius shopkeeper had advised him to stay put at the shop and rest up until he had recovered Spirit Energy to move on his own again.

This plan was in effect for a full seven minutes, before Ichigo had jumped up and demanded that Kisuke help retrieve his Spirit Energy immediately, lest he exploded out of boredom.

So Kisuke, being the very smart person he was, had graciously lent the orange-haired Soul Reaper some of his own Spirit Energy. Just enough to get him back on his feet, though, as he cautioned Ichigo to still take it easy for the next few days.

The orange-haired Soul Reaper had to get out of that kami-forsaken shop after about ten minutes' worth of aimless wandering through its halls, so he had decided to go out for a little walk to get some well-deserved fresh air and solitude. Kisuke probably felt that he needed the time on his own, seeing as he didn't even bother getting up when Ichigo notified him of the walk.

'_There's nothing as quiet as the ruined debris of an abandoned battlefield.'_ He internally chuckled at the irony.

"Right." He refocused himself. "Now to find the owners of those Spirit signatures…"

Ichigo stood there with his eyes closed for quite a while, feeling out for any trace of the two energy signals he picked up just a few minutes ago. "Damn it…" he opened his eyes and grit his teeth in irritation. "I can't find them at all now!"

Even with his limited prowess in detecting Spiritual beings, he was still able to sense them quite easily the first time. But now, they were just…gone. It's as if they just disappeared from this dimension. Or worse…

Ichigo let out a heavy sigh. He _really_ wasn't in the mood for collecting bodies, regardless of who they were. In the end, everyone was an unfortunate victim of Aizen's treachery.

The orange-haired Soul Reaper let out another, long sigh as he tried to quell the frustration building up inside.

Aizen.

He had heard about how the traitor had shown little to no regard at the death of his allies, even going so far as killing some of them, like Kaname Tosen, himself.

That bastard literally used _everyone_, regardless of their loyalty, even if it was to _him_.

It didn't matter to Ichigo where their loyalty was, though, he would try his best to find whoever it was he sensed. Alive, hopefully…

Taking in a deep breath through his nose; the orange-haired Soul Reaper calmed himself down. "Alright, let's try this again…" he closed his eyes, and reached out with his Spirit Energy-sensing abilities once more.

"Crap…" he muttered after a while, a frown settling on his face. "Why do I have to suck so bad at this sensing stuff…"

Again, he didn't sense a thing in the surrounding area, and frustration was clearly starting to take its toll on Ichigo's temper.

"Just take a few deep breaths…" he muttered to himself, before taking said deep breaths, and calming himself once more.

He intensely concentrated as he scanned over the fallen town, feeling out for…anything, really. But there was still no success whatsoever.

'_Concentrate…concentrate…concen-there!'_

His eyes flew open on their own accord as his head snapped to the left. It was faint, _very _faint, but he definitely sensed someone in that direction.

Swallowing the urge to celebrate his most recent success at sensing Spirit Energy, Ichigo quickly broke into a slowish- in terms of Soul Reaper standards -sprint in the general direction of where he sensed the person. He didn't want to risk using up all of the Spirit Energy that Kisuke had so generously donated to him. He had no idea who this person was, which meant that there was a possibility that he would have to defend himself.

Ichigo quickly sped over, through, and around the fallen landscape, making sure to keep heading in the right direction all the while by following the faint Spirit Energy signal, which he now completely homed in on.

"Okay." The orange-haired Soul Reaper came to a sudden halt in a seemingly random area. "I felt it coming from around here…"

Quickly scanning the area around him, Ichigo's eyes almost immediately fell on a young woman, lying on her stomach on the ground a few feet in front of him.

Letting out a small breath of relief at seeing the minute rise and fall of her body, clearly indicating that she was still alive, he hurriedly made his way over to the prone body. Upon reaching the girl's body, the orange-haired boy kneeled down next to her and proceeded in gently flipping her over onto her back, before his eyes suddenly grew wide at what he saw.

Lying in front of him, was an unconscious young woman that looked to be in her early 20's, with jaw-length black hair, and a red-ish outline around her left eye.

A blush quickly spread over Ichigo's face as he directed his gaze down below her face, as he just realised that the girl was only wearing what appeared to be a strapless black bra, and hakama pants that seemed to be burned off just above her knees, thus giving the orange-haired Soul Reaper a rather generous view of her somewhat scorched- but otherwise slightly tanned -smooth legs and flat stomach. His ears quickly grew red as well, as he suddenly realised that he was now staring at her somewhat…modest, breasts.

Vigorously shaking his head, Ichigo quickly directed his gaze down to, albeit embarrassingly, check the girl's body for anymore injuries.

All prudishness quickly disappeared though, as the orange-haired Soul Reaper spotted a gothic '54' tattooed on her left hip.

Ichigo's senses automatically kicked in as his head snapped up, taking in his surroundings for any sign of possible danger. He didn't sense anyone else remotely close to them, so he turned his attention back to the girl in front of him, staring at her with wide eyes.

She's an Arrancar.

And the chances are good that there were more Arrancar still present in the World of the Living, and he doubted that they were going to be overly friendly towards him, the person who killed their ruler.

But that wasn't what bothered him. What _did_ bother him was that this place was probably also crawling with _Soul Reapers_, some which would not hesitate for even a second, to kill the leftover Arrancar, to kill…he looked back down at the girl lying in front of him.

Even though Arrancar were classified as the 'enemy', Ichigo knew that was not true. _Aizen_ was the enemy, and the rest were simply innocent pawns in his plan.

He knew that the Espada and the rest of the Arrancar had no choice but to follow Aizen's wishes. It was either that, or a painful execution at the hands of the very same man.

So why should they have to pay the price now for that bastard's choices. Yes, he had battled against a lot of Arrancar, but not once did he _want_ to kill one. And he sure as hell wasn't planning on starting now.

"I've got to get her out of here…"

He knew how the Thirteen Court Guard Squads operated, and he knew how the old man operated. Thus he knew that, if they found her; she was A: Going to be killed, or B: Going to be taken to Squad Twelve's barracks, where Mayuri Kurotsuchi would probably conduct some sickening experiments, before killing her anyway.

His teeth gritted in anger at that last thought.

"No." He clenched his jaw in determination. He wouldn't let that happen. He'll get her out of this world without anyone from the Soul Society knowing. But _how_?

The most obvious place to take her would be Hueco Mundo, but how would he get there in the first place?

Kisuke knew how to open a Garganta, but he was reluctant to take her back to the shop, especially now, with all the Soul Reapers patrolling around in Karakura Town.

"Wait a second. Arrancar can open Gargantas, right?"

Memories of Ulquiorra and Grimmjow summoning the black rips with a simple flick of their hands ran through his head. So, if they could open a Garganta so easily…

He focussed his attention back on the unconscious girl in front of him.

Then she will probably also be able to open one without much difficulty.

Alright, the plan was set: Get the girl to open a Garganta, help get her safely into Hueco Mundo, and get back to Karakura Town before anyone noticed he was gone.

Gently placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, Ichigo couldn't stop the involuntary gasp of shock from escaping him. She was burning up, _literally_. Her skin was severely scorched, and uncomfortably warm, which meant that she probably had a fever.

He gently started shaking the girl in an effort to get her to regain consciousness. For a while she didn't respond at all, her chest heaving slightly as she took in shallow, ragged breaths. It took ten more seconds' worth of shaking, before she finally started stirring somewhat.

"Hmmm…" the girl groaned as she clenched her eyes shut tightly in a futile attempt to alleviate the _pain_. _Everything hurt_. She could vaguely feel the texture of concrete underneath her aching body, and also a warm, hand?, on her shoulder, shaking her every few seconds, which was _greatly_ starting to irritate her at this point.

"Hey, wake up." Ichigo's voice was gentle, barely above a whisper.

"Hmmm…"

The orange-haired Soul Reaper watched on as the girl's eyes slowly started fluttering open…

"Ugh…" She groaned as her eyes finally opened about halfway, but her vision was still _so_ foggy. She could barely make out anything in her line of sight. There was an overwhelming amount of fuzzy blue, with a few speckles of white in between. _'Sky…?_'

But what caught her attention the most though, was the bright orange, which seemed to be much closer than the larger quantity of blue sky.

A frown graced her features as she tried, with quite a bit of difficulty, to refocus her blurry vision. Everything around her started getting clearer and clearer, as she noticed that the overwhelming amount of blue was indeed the sky, of Las Noches? Was she lying on Mistress Harribel's Palace's patio?

The bright orange, which was seemingly hovering right in front of her, also became clearer, changing into what looked like a boy. A very _handsome_ boy, with bright orange hair and brown eyes, clad in a sleeveless shihakusho.

Wait a minute_. 'A shihakusho?'_

Her eyes suddenly snapped wide open. This boy was wearing a shihakusho. Only _Soul Reapers_ wore shihakusho.

The orange hair.

This was that boy that Lord Aizen had been so interested in, the boy that defeated Grimmjow, the Sixth Espada. _'Ichigo Kurosaki!'_

Everything started coming back to her now! Master Starrk, Master Baraggan, and Mistress Harribel, along with all of their respective Fracciónes, accompanied Lords Aizen, Gin, and Tosen, to the World of the Living in order to face off with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

Mistress Harribel facing off against that white-haired kid Captain, Mila-Rose, Sung-Sun and herself facing off against his beautiful Lieutenant, unleashing Ayon on all of those Lieutenants, the Head-Captain single-handedly defeating Ayon, and then finally dispatching of her, Mila-Rose and Sung-Sun with a single swing of his burning sword.

All of it came back to her with sudden realisation.

They were in a war with the Soul Reapers. Ichigo Kurosaki was an enemy as well! Her eyes widened even more as the reality of this situation dawned upon her: He was here to finish her off!

Very different thoughts were running through Ichigo's head, in the meantime.

A pair of _very_ unique eyes greeted him as the Arrancar girl woke up: Her left eye, which had the red outline around it, was a beautiful amber-like colour. But what really caught his attention, was the icy, sky-blue colour of her right eye.

She had heterochromia. And she was staring straight up at him.

Ichigo swallowed heavily as he watched her half-lidded eyes suddenly snap wide open. He assumed that she probably figured out where she was, and that he was a Soul Reaper.

Watching her eyes widen even more, the orange-haired Soul Reaper decided that he should at least try to ease her apparent panic.

"Uh…hey ther-"

*SLASH!*

If not for Ichigo's _very_ sharp battle instincts; he would have ended up with more than the thin, bleeding, horizontal slash across his chest. His body literally leapt backwards out of its own accord when the Arrancar girl suddenly lashed out at him with something sharp.

"Hey! What the hell's your problem!?" he stayed low on one knee as he glared at the girl in front of him, only to soften his features as his eyes landed on her.

She was barely sitting up on the ground, panting and desperately trying to support herself on her propped-up left arm. She was holding what looked to be a chakram in her right hand, probably what she used to attack him just now.

She wasn't even looking at him anymore. Her eyes were cast down to the ground, barely open now. He could tell that it was taking almost all of her energy just to barely cling to consciousness.

Ichigo sighed, all the previous anger evaporated. He understood. He was a Soul Reaper, and she was an Arrancar. It was only natural that she would attack him.

But he wasn't going to attack her. She was defenceless, and it looked as if she would keel over any minute now.

Letting out another sigh, the orange-haired Soul Reaper started making his way back over to where the Arrancar girl was sitting on the ground.

Apacci _really_ wasn't faring well. Her vision was almost completely blurred again, and she barely had the strength left to keep herself from falling over. She noticed Kurosaki approaching her again out of the corner of her eye.

Her chakram dropped out of her hand, and latched itself back around her right wrist.

She was defeated, and she knew it. She couldn't even _move_ anymore, let alone maintain her bracelet in its weapon state.

Her eyes drooped even lower as Kurosaki stopped in front of her, preparing to meet her end. But she didn't expect the boy to suddenly get down onto one knee, though.

His arms suddenly reached out to her, which caused her to snap her head up as far as she could, and stare at him defiantly through glazed-over eyes.

"Hey, take it easy." He jerked his arms away from her. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Look, I don't even have my Zanpakuto with me." He gestured to himself.

It was true. He really didn't have his Zanpakuto with him. He had left Zangetsu back at Kisuke's shop, seeing as there wasn't really a reason for keeping it with him for a supposed short little walk _after_ the war.

The girl tried jerking away as Ichigo reached out to her again.

"Look, I only want to help you get out of here. If the other Soul Reapers found you here, they would kill you for sure. So please," he slowly reached out to her again. "Let me help you."

He didn't have to wait long for confirmation though, as she suddenly swayed forward- unable to keep herself upright any longer -into his waiting arms.

She panted heavily, her eyes now fully closed, as Ichigo gently cradled her against his chest. He could tell that her strength had left her.

'_Well, there's no way that she'll be able to open up a Garganta in this condition.'_ He sighed as he slowly stood up straight again, making sure to hook his arm under her legs as well, now carrying her in a bridal-like style. "I'm gonna try to get you back to Hueco Mundo. I figured you'll be safe there?"

Ichigo's eyes suddenly widened. Crap, something else just occurred to him: He couldn't just leave her in Hueco Mundo. She was injured and needed to heal, thus she wouldn't be able to defend herself against any possible threats.

He let out a frustrated sigh. It seems like he would be spending a little time in Hueco Mundo again, because there was no way that he was leaving her unprotected. He couldn't risk getting Orihime involved, as she was probably still being accompanied by Byakuya and Mayuri, amongst others. So, Hueco Mundo it was.

"I'm going to a friend of mine for some help, okay?"

He didn't receive an answer, as the only sound filling the air was that of her weak panting.

"Right. Back to Kisuke's."

And with that, Ichigo leaped into a Flash Step, heading back towards the Urahara Shop.

It took Ichigo about two minutes' worth of Flash Steps, before he found himself standing in front of the shop's front door.

He adjusted the girl's position slightly, letting her head lay on his chest in order to free his right arm somewhat, before knocking on the door in front of him.

There was silence for a few moments, before Ichigo heard noise from the other side of the door, which suddenly opened and revealed Yoruichi, who was still wearing what was left of her skimpy-ish battle uniform.

The purple-haired goddess gave Ichigo a curious glance, but her golden eyes quickly narrowed as she noticed the Arrancar in his arms.

Ichigo started squirming on the inside as Yoruichi kept on staring at the girl through narrowed eyes. But, much to his relief, she suddenly fixed her glare on him instead, a huge smirk appearing on her face.

Ichigo closed his eyes in exasperation. Great, this couldn't end well for the orange-haired Soul Reaper.

"Why, Ichigo,"

Ichigo's eyes snapped open again as he looked back to Yoruichi, who now had a teasing grin on her face, her eyes glowing with mischief.

"If you really wanted to feel up a naked woman _so_ bad, why didn't you just ask _me_?" she teasingly put her hands on her hips, striking a flirtatious pose for the boy in front of her.

"W-what!?" Ichigo's face quickly gained a nice red hue, as he diverted his eyes up to the sky. "It's not like tha-would you knock that off!"

Yoruichi let out a laugh as Ichigo mumbled something under his breath about childish grown women.

"Anyway," Ichigo started again, a light blush still present on his cheeks. "I need Kisuke's help to open up a Garganta for her." He gestured down to the unconscious girl in his arms.

"A Garganta? Why?" Yoruichi was suddenly serious again; her eyes having slightly narrowed once more.

"Because we need to get her out of here! You know that the others would probably kill her if they find her here. Why should she have to die too, for something that bastard did?" Ichigo angrily spat out.

Yoruichi stared at Ichigo for a moment, before giving a nod and stepping to the side. "Come in, I'll go get Kisuke."

Ichigo thanked the purple-haired goddess as she closed the door behind him after he stepped in, before she disappeared into the back of the building.

He didn't have to wait long though, as Yoruichi suddenly appeared in front of him again, gently wrapping the girl's body with what he assumed was one of her casual Human World-bought hoodies, unsurprisingly, purple in colour.

Kisuke also walked in behind Yoruichi, wearing a brand new white and green striped bucket hat. Geez, how many hats did he have lying around in this place?

"Well, welcome back Ichigo. I see you've found yourself a new friend." he said while fanning himself. "I hear that you want me to open a Garganta for you, to take this young lady back to her home?"

"Yeah." Ichigo nodded. "That's right. If the Soul Society discovered her here..."

"Well, we'll just have to make sure they don't then!" Kisuke jovially proclaimed.

"Yeah, but there's another problem. You see, I don't know if she's strong enough to defend herself yet, so I might have to stay there in Hueco Mundo for a while, until she's regained enough strength." Ichigo explained his dilemma.

"And I'm assuming that you want to avoid letting anyone else know about this? So, you need me to cover for you while you're gone?" Kisuke hid his face behind his fan.

Ichigo blinked. "Well, yeah. Exactly." He sometimes forgot that Kisuke is a very, _very_ smart man.

"No problem!" Kisuke snapped his fan shut. "I have just the thing in mind to help you with that!" Thoughts of a portable Gigai for Ichigo were already occupying the eccentric man's mind.

"Great. Thanks, Kisuke." The orange-haired Soul Reaper grinned.

"Well, let's open that Garganta then. Everything's still in place from when we opened it for Captain Kuchiki and the others, so things should run smoothly. Follow me!"

And with that said, Kisuke disappeared down the ladder in the corner of the room, followed closely by Ichigo. Yoruichi had decided to go take a nice, hot bath, because she had gotten back from the fake Karakura Town just a few minutes before he came back to the shop again.

A few minutes later, Ichigo found himself running through the familiar dark void between the two dimensions, the Arrancar girl still safely in his arms. He had decided to take Zangetsu with him this time, just in case he needed to defend the two of them.

The path he created for the two of them to run on was, of course, very dodgy. He _really_ needed to learn how to control his Spirit Energy.

"Well, it's gonna take us a little while to get to Hueco Mundo." He remarked, glancing down at the unconscious girl in his arms.

"I'm glad this war and the whole Aizen situation is finally over." He carried on, looking back up into the darkness in front of them. "There were too many unnecessary deaths on both sides, especially when that bastard decided to start killing off his own allies."

He suddenly let out a light chuckle. "Man, to think that I was dragged into all of this by accident."

"I mean, sure I've been able to see spirits since I was still a little kid, but I never really got involved until that night a Hollow attacked my family's clinic…"

And before Ichigo knew it, he was retelling the events of his life to the unconscious girl, from how he got his powers from Rukia, invading the Soul Society to save said Rukia, his countless battles with various Arrancar and Espada, how he defeated Sosuke Aizen. Everything.

What he didn't know, was that she was actually awake, and listening to every word he said.

Her eyes were barely open, she was _so_ tired. But she listened. She heard the excitement in his voice, every time he talked about happy memories. She heard the sadness that he tried so hard to hide when he talked about his mother, and the Hollow which had killed her. She felt the way his arms tightened around her ever so slightly, trying to comfort himself in some way, as he talked about her, about how he blamed himself for her death for the longest time, until he fought the scum that killed her, until he set her soul free from his grip.

Her half-lidded eyes stared out into the darkness to their left, her head resting gently against his chest. Was this really the enemy? Was this really the boy that Aizen had ordered to be terminated? His past, all the turmoil he has gone through during his life; it…it hurt her.

He had gone through so much. He had killed Aizen- She had decided to stop referring to him as her Lord, as Ichigo told her that he attacked their comrades -, so he had saved them all from that bastard. She didn't even know if Mistress Harribel, Sung-Sun or Mila-Rose were even still alive. Kami, she hoped they were, and that they would come back to Hueco Mundo as well.

Her thoughts were interrupted though, as the darkness in front of them suddenly gave way, revealing the vast sands of her home.

Ichigo landed in the sand with a soft thud, looking around for any signs of immediate danger. Satisfied that they were safe, he looked down at the girl in his arms, only to find her half-lidded, curious eyes staring back up at him.

"Hey, uh, how are you feeling?" Ichigo awkwardly asked.

How _was_ she feeling? Actually, she felt better.

Hueco Mundo was very rich in Reishi, and her body had already started reacting to it, absorbing as much of it as it could. Her body was already starting to heal, and she felt way more alert now.

"B-better…" Yes, she was feeling better, but not that much. She still felt rather weak, and her weak voice proved that to Ichigo as well.

"That's good…" Ichigo had a small smile on his face as he gently laid her down onto the soft sand. "So-"

His head suddenly snapped to his left as he jumped up onto his feet, his hand already resting on Zangetsu's hilt.

Someone was coming, someone not overwhelmingly strong, fortunately.

Ichigo's shoulders sagged out of relief. This opponent wouldn't be a problem to defeat.

"T-that's Sung-Sun!"

The orange-haired Soul Reaper looked back down to the Arrancar girl, who was staring in the direction of Las Noches- which, coincidently, was also from where the other person was coming from –with wide eyes.

"Sung-Sun?" Ichigo repeated. "Wait, do you know the person who's headed this way?"

The girl simply nodded, still staring towards Las Noches. "Mila-Rose is there at Las Noches too!" her eyes widened in excitement. They were safe. "Mistress Harribel!" it wasn't as high as normal, but she definitely felt her Mistress's Spiritual Pressure radiating from Las Noches!

"So, uh, I take it they're all your friends?" Ichigo awkwardly interrupted the Arrancar, scratching the back of his head.

She turned her head back towards him, nodding affirmatively yet again.

Ichigo grinned. Perfect. He could just leave her with them. While they weren't _overly_ powerful; the spirit signatures he felt were sufficiently high enough to ensure that any hungry Hollows would meet their end, should they attack the four of them.

"Alright then." He turned around, facing the still-open Garganta. "My work here is done. It was nice meeting you." He looked at her over his shoulder, smiling at her.

Her eyes widened, before softening ever so slightly back to their half-lidded state. She was still feeling pretty damn groggy. She owed her life to this boy in front of her. If not for him, she would be dead right now, no doubt about it.

"Well, take care." With one last wave of his hand, Ichigo jumped back into the Garganta, which closed behind him.

"Goodbye…" Apacci softly replied, just as Sung-Sun landed in front of her…

**[XXX]**

Apacci let out a sigh, running a hand through her black hair.

A good six hours had passed since Sung-Sun had found her lying in the sands of Hueco Mundo. Her green-haired ally had been quite shocked to find her there, all by herself, wearing some purple clothing. But she didn't voice her surprise, as she just scooped Apacci up in her arms, and headed back towards Las Noches.

As she had assumed, Mila-Rose was waiting for them at the gigantic palace, guarding an unconscious Mistress Harribel from any possible harm.

Mila-Rose and Sung-Sun had questioned her during this time about the purple hoody, to which she responded by saying that she found it lying near her in the wreckage, and thought that it was cool.

They didn't pester about it anymore after that, as Mistress Harribel was their main concern.

The three of them sat in silence for quite a while, recovering while they waited for their Mistress to awaken. Apacci was still pretty worn, so she gladly welcomed the silence as her body replenished itself with Reishi.

The Third Espada woke up about four hours later, sitting up with a huge start, but she instantly relaxed as she noticed the familiar pillars of Las Noches. Her Fracciónes quickly surrounded her, the three of them making dead sure that she was fine.

She quickly shooed the three of them a few feet away, as she gingerly got up, before demanding to know what had occurred since she lost consciousness.

Sung-Sun had quickly filled their Mistress in about everything that had occurred, of how she and Mila-Rose had gotten the Third Espada out of that town to the relative safety of Las Noches, after which she sensed Apacci arriving somewhere in Hueco Mundo and went to fetch her, also returning her black-haired comrade safely to Las Noches.

Their Mistress had then filled the three of them in of how Sosuke Aizen had cut her down himself, leaving her to die there.

The three of them had been shocked, Mila-Rose and Sung-Sun more so than Apacci. So what Ichigo Kurosaki had said was true then: Aizen didn't give a damn about any of them. He merely used them for his own sick goals.

Those conversations had occurred about an hour and a half ago.

Now, Apacci was sitting against one of the pillars, her knees brought up to her chest with her chin resting on top of her kneecaps. Mila-Rose, Sung-Sun and Mistress Harribel were somewhere else in the palace, doing who-knows-what.

She wasn't interested in their activities at the moment. She just needed a little time on her own, to think about everything.

About…Ichigo.

She sighed again, her eyes focused on her toes. Why did he save her? They were enemies, were they not? It didn't make sense to her, now that she thought about it. What possible reason he have had to save her life?

She frustratingly hit her kneecaps with her chin while chewing on her bottom lip.

"You seem to have quite a bit on your mind."

"Hm?" Looking up, Apacci saw Mistress Harribel standing in front of her, her arms folded just underneath her breasts, staring down at her. "Mistress Harribel!"

The black-haired Arrancar quickly jumped up onto one knee, lowering her head in penitence. "Forgive me, ma'am. I didn't see you standing there."

"It is no problem." Tier casually waved her off. "So," she sat down in front of Apacci in an Indian-like style. "What is bothering you, Apacci?"

Apacci looked up to meet her Mistress's eyes, only to start fidgeting under her unflinching gaze.

She took a deep breath, before she started filling her Mistress in about Ichigo: How he had defeated Aizen, rescued her from certain death, and how he made sure that she got back here safely. She told her about Ichigo's past, his _pain_.

Her Mistress remained quiet throughout the entire time that Apacci talked, save for a few occasions where she widened or narrowed her eyes, depending on what she heard.

"A-and now I'm struggling to understand why he's labelled as an enemy, Mistress Harribel." The black-haired Arrancar stared down at her toes again. "Why was everyone told that he must be eliminated, that he was _such_ a big threat to us? And more importantly, why did he save me? Aren't I considered an enemy to him? Why risk it all just to save my life? _Why_?"

Tier simply stared at Apacci, who was quiet now as she bit her lower lip.

"I need to know why…" Apacci whispered softly, her hair hanging over her eyes. Apparently, if your Hollow mask-remnants get destroyed somehow, it doesn't grow back. Her horn was completely destroyed when that old man attacked them, and now her fringe was flowing freely over her face.

"I need to why." She repeated louder, looking up into her Mistress's eyes.

Tier kept her eyes fixed on her for what felt to Apacci like an eternity. Most of her Mistress's mask fragments were also destroyed, and her entire face was now revealed to the world around her. She was beautiful, her green eyes able to penetrate the depths of one's soul.

"Then go find out."

Apacci's eyes widened, her mouth agape. "Ma'am…?"

"Go and find out, Apacci." Tier repeated herself as she got back up onto her feet, before she started walking away.

Apacci stared after her Mistress as she walked away, completely dumbfounded by what had just occurred.

"However," the Third Espada stopped walking. "Please try to be cautious." She looked over her shoulder at Apacci, giving her a small smile.

Apacci slowly nodded. "I will, ma'am…"

Tier nodded, before walking away, most likely to go get some more rest.

Apacci's eyes followed her Mistress until she had disappeared into one of the many corridors inside Las Noches, before she got up onto her feet as well.

She stretched her arms out above her head for a moment, before tapping her fingers in the air to her left. A Garganta opened on the spot soon afterwards, the empty void that was its inside visible in all its glory.

Apacci took a deep breath as she walked closer to the black rip, uncertainty clearly visible in her eyes. She slowly blew out the breath she took in, before leaping into the Garganta, which closed shut immediately afterward.

As she ran through the dark void, the only light emitting from her Reishi path, which was, by the way, much more stable than Ichigo's, Apacci's mind was working hard on her plan of action.

There was no way that she could just go straight to Ichigo, she would probably get killed as soon as she set foot in the World of the Living anyway. There had to be some way that she could get to him undetected. It would be pointless to suppress her Spiritual Pressure, seeing as most Soul Reapers were probably sufficient at detecting Spirit Energy, no matter how low.

She could always go to the man with the hat. He helped Ichigo with her escape, so he wouldn't kill her, right? She certainly hoped so. She stopped running and closed her eyes for a few minutes, trying to pinpoint the hatted man's underground desert hideout-thingy.

She would ask him for help, and pray that he wouldn't execute her on the spot.

She found its location relatively easy, and proceeded to run through the darkness once more. The journey through the Garganta took her about twenty minutes. Thank goodness her body had recovered somewhat, so she could run quite a bit faster than a normal human.

The darkness in front of her gave way to a desert-like area, full of steep cliffs and mini-mountains. She lowered her Spirit Energy as low as she possibly could, before leaping out of the closing Garganta, and gracefully landed on top of a cliff which partially looked out over the landscape.

Was it just her, or was this place ginormous? And if she remembered correctly, it was located _under_ a small shop. How did it even _get_ here?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wooden-sandaled footsteps coming towards her from the left.

Sharply snapping her head in that direction; Apacci laid eyes on the person she was looking for: The hat-wearing man.

"Well, hello there, little Arrancar girl!" Kisuke cheerfully greeted as he stopped a few feet in front of her. "This sure is an unexpected surprise!"

Apacci nodded stiffly. This man was really weird…and cheerful. Her eyes narrowed in irritation. "My name is Apacci, not 'little Arrancar Girl'."

"Okay then, Apacci, what brings you here?" his eyes shined in curiosity as he fixed the black-haired Arrancar with a calculative gaze.

Apacci's eyes flickered down to the ground for a second, before they darted back up to meet Kisuke's. "I…I want to see Ichigo, and I…need your help to get to him safely."

Kisuke's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise, before his eyes suddenly narrowed, his smile disappearing completely. "And I assume that it will be a civilised, _peaceful_ visit…right?"

An involuntary shiver ran down Apacci's spine. His voice was suddenly so cold, so serious.

And his eyes. His was staring coldly at her, almost as if he was daring her to say the wrong thing. This man was _very_ dangerous, she realised it now. His power radiated off of him, causing another chill to run down her spine.

The black-haired Arrancar nodded stiffly. "Yes, I'm not going attack him. I just need to talk to him."

Kisuke's serious eyes bore into hers. She couldn't help but fidget under his intense gaze, as she rubbed her left arm uncomfortably.

And just like that, the goofy-smiled hatted-man was back, all the seriousness that was evident just a moment ago now completely gone. "Well, then you'll definitely need my help!"

Apacci sighed in relief, very grateful that the man's cold eyes weren't on her anymore.

"I'm assuming that you know where Ichigo is right now? I mean, it's quite obvious that _everyone_ knows where he is." Kisuke grinned widely at his joke. Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure radiated off of him 24/7. So it was a freaking breeze to locate him. "But I know that you know that you can't just go straight to him. That's why you're here, right, little Apacci?"

Apacci's eyes narrowed at the 'little Apacci', but nodded nonetheless.

"Well, fret not, because I'll help you get to Ichigo safely. Follow me." Kisuke jumped off the cliff and started walking to a ladder at the end of the landscape, against one of its four sky-like painted walls.

Apacci followed Kisuke in silence as they climbed up the ladder. The shop was dark when they got to the top, as all the lights were switched off.

The black-haired Arrancar assumed that it was night time in this world, and as such, everybody else was probably asleep in this building.

Kisuke turned to a door on their left, slid it open, and then walked in, Apacci in tow.

"Hmm, now where did I put it…let's see…" the shopkeeper mumbled to himself as he started rummaging through a bunch of cabinets and boxes in the room, while Apacci curiously looked on from the door.

"Ah, here it is."

Apacci leaned forward, trying to see what the hatted-man had pulled out of the box.

"This," Kisuke turned around, holding a simple-looking cloak out to the black-haired Arrancar. "Will help you get to Ichigo without being detected by anyone."

"Really?" Apacci sounded pretty sceptical as she took the cloak from Kisuke.

"Yes! It completely conceals one's Spiritual Pressure! All you have to do is stay hidden from sight, and you'll be practically invisible!" Kisuke joyfully explained.

"So, I just put it on," Apacci mumbled as she draped the cloak over her shoulders. "Like this?"

"Yep!" Kisuke exclaimed with an affirmative nod of his head. "You can put the hood on if you'd like, buuuut it's more for pulling off the mysterious look, than anything else."

Apacci had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. This man was so weird. "Well, I had better get going…" she pulled the hood over her head. Man, who would have thought that not having her horn on her head would be so comfortable?

"Ichigo is at his home right now, if I'm not mistaken." Kisuke stated. "If I can give you a little advice, go in through the window right above the sign at the front, alright? That's Ichigo's room, so you won't bump into anyone else in the household." He explained while leading her to the front door, opening it for her upon them reaching it.

Apacci nodded as she stepped outside. She quickly turned around to face Kisuke, before giving a quick bow. "Thank you."

"No problem!" Kisuke waved her off nonchalantly.

Apacci gave one more nod, before she turned around, starting to make her way in the direction from which she sensed Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure.

Kisuke watched the black-haired Arrancar until she disappeared around the street corner, a small smile plastered on his face.

'_Well, this should be interesting…'_ he thought to himself as he walked back to his bedroom, ready to retire for the night.

It was close to 22:30, after all, and it has been quite a day.

**[XXX]**

Ichigo let out a long breath as he finally lied down on his bed.

After he had successfully gotten that Arrancar girl back into Hueco Mundo, the rest of his day had been pretty uneventful.

He returned back to the shop, where Kisuke and Yoruichi had forced him to sit down and explain the whole Arrancar girl-situation to them, over a cup of Tessai's tea, of course.

After that, he went home, where he found his dad busy in the kitchen. Yuzu and Karin were still fast asleep from the Kido that Kisuke had cast over Karakura Town, and they would apparently be asleep until at least tomorrow afternoon.

His dad had ushered him into the kitchen, where they talked…sort of.

His dad tried apologising for keeping his Soul Reaper powers a secret for so long. But Ichigo dismissed him, saying that he probably had a very good reason for not telling him, and that he won't bug him about. But he did expect his dad to tell him everything one day, when he was ready to share it.

They had also decided that it was best not to wipe any of his friends or his sisters' memories. It was unlikely that it would be successful anyway, given that almost all of them were spiritually aware by now.

Ichigo had decided that he would talk to each one of his friends and family individually, and explain exactly what the situation is, starting with Karin and Yuzu. Well, mostly Yuzu, as Karin basically knew about everything already.

And that was it. The talking was over, just like that. The two of them sat in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts as Isshin worked on a small dinner for the two of them.

They ate in silence, cleaned the kitchen up n silence, and then each went their separate way: Isshin went to the living room to watch some television, while Ichigo went upstairs to take a shower.

The orange-haired teen had walked back down the stairs 45 minutes later, only to find the bottom half of the house empty, with most of the lights off, and a not put up next to the stairs saying, 'Nothing one TV, everyone still asleep in town.'. And that meant bedtime, because he was _beyond_ tired anyway. It was about time to hit the sack.

And that's where he currently found himself: Sprawled out on his bed.

He stretched his arms above his head, before resting his head on his hands, staring up at his roof.

'_Well, hopefully my life would start returning back to normal a bit. Hopefully I won't be failing this year, because man, have I missed a few days…'_

He closed his eyes while he took in a deep breath, slowly let it out, and finally opened his eyes again, only to lay eyes on a hooded figure standing a few feet from his bed.

He practically jumped two meters into the air, before he landed in a sitting position at the foot of his bed.

The hooded person seemed to be staring at him as he tried catching his breath, before pulling the hood off, revealing the respective amber and blue eyes and black hair of the Arrancar he had dropped off in Hueco Mundo just earlier today.

And she didn't look overly happy.

On the contrary; she was glaring at him, intensely, and he had no idea why.

And, more importantly, if she were to attack right now; he was defenceless. His Substitute Soul Reaper Pass was attached to his school uniform's pants, which was neatly hanging in the closet on the other side of the room.

She suddenly lunged at him before he could give his dilemma any more thought, and proceeded to grab him by the collar of his tank top. She then pulled him towards her, until their faces were inches apart, her eyes boring into his with so much intensity, that Ichigo couldn't do anything else but stare back at her with wide eyes.

Apacci's expression softened as she stared into Ichigo's somewhat frightened brown eyes. She briefly glanced down to his slightly open mouth, before roughly smashing her lips against his, her eyes shut tightly as her grip on his shirt tightened.

Ichigo was frozen in shock as Apacci pulled away almost-immediately, a blush quickly spreading over his face.

Apacci's eyes narrowed slightly, before capturing Ichigo's lips in another feverish kiss. She quickly broke the kiss though, as she harshly shoved him down onto the bed.

She pulled her head back a bit before glaring at the orange-haired Soul Reaper again, still firmly gripping the collar of his shirt.

"Tell me why. Why did you rescue me?" her voice was barely audible, but the accompanying burning passion in her eyes sent a chill down Ichigo's spine.

"What…what kind of question is that? Why wouldn't I-"

Apacci roughly pulled him up by his collar until their noses almost touched. "Tell me! Why would you do something like that? Why risk everything to save me: Your enemy!?"

The black-haired Arrancar suddenly stumbled backwards, taking Ichigo's tank top with her as she crashed into the closet door on the other side of the room, sliding down and sitting up against it.

She took in short breaths, her eyes half-lidded. Her strength had left her again. It seems that she hadn't recovered enough to strain herself physically and mentally like this. Now she felt wiped out and tired, _again_.

Ichigo had quickly got up onto his feet when he saw Apacci fall down against the closet, his shirt lying next to her on the floor.

He went closer to help, but the weak glare directed at him stopped Ichigo in his tracks.

"T-tell me…why did you s-save me…" Apacci managed to stutter out in between short breaths, her half-lidded eyes defiant as she glared up the orange-haired boy in front of her.

"You didn't do anything wrong…" Ichigo replied, cautiously taking a step towards her. "Why should you have to die, for something that was out your control?" another step.

"If anyone was to blame for all of this, it was Aizen. Everyone else that died, were innocent, no matter on what side they were." He knelt down in front of her, a small smile on his. "I don't even know what your name is, but I won't let anything happen to you."

The black-haired Arrancar stared at him, her eyes softening very quickly, before she looked down to her left, a small little smile making its way onto her face.

"It's Apacci…"

The smile on Ichigo's face widened just a bit. "I won't let anything happen to you, Apacci."

And before Apacci could say anything else; she was gently scooped up into Ichigo's arms, and being carried back towards his bed.

"Rest here for the night. You can have the bed, and I'll grab a futon."

He turned back to the closet to get a futon to sleep on, but a hand on his arm quickly halted him. Turning around, Ichigo saw Apacci stare up at him as her other hand grabbed on to his arms as well, before she gently tugged on it, beckoning him to come closer.

He obliged and move back towards the foot of the bed, but Apacci gave another tug, which caused him to bend over her.

Her half-lidded eyes pleadingly looked up at him, as she tugged one more time.

Ichigo quickly caught on, and with a small smile, he cautiously climbed over and lied down on his side, facing her.

Apacci gave a small, satisfied smile as she turned on her side, now facing the orange-haired teen as well, while Ichigo gently folded his arms around her, pulling her just a bit closer.

As Apacci rested her head against his chest, she noticed a thin slash over the left side of it: The cut she gave him earlier today.

She lightly traced over it with her finger, before softly pressing her lips against it and looked up at him, silently asking for forgiveness.

Ichigo's cheeks were pink, but he smiled nonetheless, as he rubbed her back.

Apacci gave the cut another soft kiss, before she moved up to him and gently pressed her lips up against his.

And this time, Ichigo kissed her back just as gently.

This brought a smile to her lips as she lied back down, resting her head against his chest once more, while Ichigo buried his face in her hair and pulled her closer in his arms…

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**I know, I know. The story probably sucked.**

**But please review nonetheless.**

**Criticise, praise, whatever! And please point out any mistakes I made, as the learning process of writing FanFiction never ends.**

**Thank you for reading!**


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